New York (CNN) - Lawmakers in New York are poised to pass a new set of gun laws intended to fortify the state's assault weapons ban, limit the number of bullets in ammunition magazines and strengthen laws that keep the mentally ill from firearms.

The Democratic-controlled Assembly, which has been largely in favor of tight gun laws, is expected to take up the measure early Tuesday afternoon.

(CNN) - Gov. Chris Christie, the outspoken New Jersey Republican whose popularity soared after Superstorm Sandy, said Tuesday that 41,000 storm-affected families remained displaced from their homes and he called for a "full, clean Sandy aid bill" in Congress.

"We have waited 72 days, seven times longer than victims of Hurricane Katrina waited," Christie said, delivering his annual State of the State address before a joint legislative session in Trenton.

(CNN) - The former Arizona congresswoman who survived a mass shooting in her district roughly two years ago paid a visit Friday to Newtown, Connecticut, where last month a gunman killed 27 people and himself in one of the deadliest mass shootings in U.S. history.

Gabrielle Giffords made the trip with her husband, Mark Kelly. The couple met with local and state leaders to discuss gun control legislation, mental health identification and treatment, and "concerns for the erosion of our societal values such that we are increasingly desensitized to violence," according to Newtown First Selectman Pat Llodra.

NEW YORK (CNN) – President Barack Obama on Thursday designated Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Shaun Donovan the federal point person to lead New York's storm recovery effort, just more than two weeks after a rare mix of converging weather slammed into the Northeast.

"We thought it'd be good to have a New Yorker," Obama said Thursday, referencing Donovan's previous stint atop the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development. The agency is thought to be among the nation's largest municipal developers of low- to mid-income housing.

(CNN) - The Pennsylvania Supreme Court sent a controversial voter ID law back to a lower court Tuesday to assess the availability of alternative forms of identification and whether the new law disenfranchises voters.

The high court said the state's Commonwealth Court has until October 2 to file its supplemental opinion, according to court documents.

(CNN) – As the field of GOP nominees for president narrows, the remaining crop of those seeking to replace Barack Obama geared up Saturday for a pair of pivotal weekend debates in New Hampshire, just days ahead of the nation's first primary.

Front-runner Mitt Romney, who eked out a narrow eight-vote victory ahead of former Sen. Rick Santorum in the Iowa caucus, has since surged past his competition in the Granite State.